Timetable

Fare Zone

Zoo Station is in VBB fare zone A.

Facilities

Luggage storage

If you're looking for a place to store luggage in western / central Berlin,
Zoo Station is the place to go. It has a large
number of coin-operated luggage lockers as well as a left-luggage service. As the station has lost
most of its intercity traffic, you will almost certainly never have a problem finding a free locker.

Otherwise the station has the usual facilities. A "WC Center" offers toilet and shower facilities.
There is a Bahnhofsmission for travelers in difficulty.

Note: there used to be a post office within the station which was open until late in the
evening. This has long vanished, although it may still be mentioned in some guidebooks.

History

Bahnhof Zoo, opened in February 1882, was originally a local station on the
Stadtbahn cross-city railway line. Between 1934 and 1940 the station was
rebuilt, expanding capacity to meet demand from the growing population
in the west of the city. Following the Second World War Bahnhof Zoo
became the only major station on the Stadtbahn to be located within
West Berlin, and became the main station. Especially during the 1970s
and 1980s it became somewhat dilapidated, and gained a reputation
as a hangout for junkies and underage prostitutes.

It received its first U-Bahn connection in 1902 with the opening
of what is now the U2.
In 1961 the U9 was added, reinforcing the
station's position at the heart of West Berlin's transport network.

Following reunification the station became even more important,
being the first stop for trains entering Berlin from western Germany.
It has been renovated several times and while the surroundings
still attract a somewhat dodgy clientel, the station is clean and
fairly modern.

Since the opening of the new Berlin-Hauptbahnhof
its role has however diminished, as long-distance (InterCity)
trains no longer stop there.

In Germany the station is notorious as the setting for the book
Christiane F. – Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo, which chronicles
the life of Christiane Felscherinow between 1975 and 1978, a teenager
who through her drug addiction became involved with the drug and
prostitution scene around the station.

Trivia

The station was the inspiration for the U2 song "Zoo Station",
which in turn inspired U2's Zoo TV tour and the album
Zooropa.

Zoo Station is also celebrated by German singers and groups:
rock band The Scorpions used it as the inspiration for
their song The Zoo, while Nina Hagen wrote
Auf'm Bahnhof Zoo.

To match the name Zoologischer Garten
("Zoological Garden") there is also a station called
Botanischer Garten ("Botanical Garden"). There is also
a Tierpark station at Berlin's other
zoo, the Tierpark.